Graphene Boosts GHz Signals Into Terahertz Territory
November 19, 2018 | CORDISEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
Graphene—a one-atom-thick layer of hexagonally arranged carbon atoms—is the thinnest and strongest material known to man and an excellent conductor of heat and electricity. Since 2004, when researchers discovered how to extract it from graphite, graphene has opened new windows of opportunity in the world of science and technology. Over the past decade, scientists have predicted that its unique structure would make it especially efficient in converting optical or electronic signals into signals of much higher frequencies. However, all efforts to prove this were unsuccessful.
Now, for the first time, a team of researchers, two of whom are supported by the EU-funded project EUCALL, have proved that graphene is actually able to convert electronic signals into signals in the terahertz range, with trillions of cycles per second.
Non-Linear Interaction
The silicon-based electronic components used today generate clock speeds in the GHz range, where 1 GHz is equal to 1 000 million cycles per second. The scientists demonstrated that graphene can convert signals with these frequencies into signals with frequencies that are thousands of times higher than those created by silicon.
What makes this feat possible is the highly efficient non-linear interaction between light and matter that occurs in graphene. The researchers used graphene containing a large number of free electrons that originated from the interaction between graphene and the substrate onto which it was deposited. When these electrons became excited by an oscillating electric field in room-temperature conditions, they rapidly shared their energy with bound electrons in the material. The electrons therefore reacted like a heated fluid, changing from liquid to vapour form inside the graphene within trillionths of a second. This transition led to powerful, rapid changes in the material’s conductivity, multiplying the frequency of the original GHz pulses.
“We have now been able to provide the first direct proof of frequency multiplication from gigahertz to terahertz in a graphene monolayer and to generate electronic signals in the terahertz range with remarkable efficiency,” says co-author and Helmholtz Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) senior scientist Dr Michael Gensch in a press release posted on the project partner’s website.
High Conversion Efficiency
The frequencies of the original electromagnetic pulses that were generated at HZDR’s TELBE terahertz facility ranged between 300 and 680 GHz. The scientists converted them into signals with three, five and seven times the initial frequency. “These conversion efficiencies are remarkably high, given that the electromagnetic interaction occurs in a single atomic layer,” the authors state in their study.
The groundbreaking discovery supported by EUCALL (European Cluster of Advanced Laser Light Sources) makes graphene a promising candidate for the nanoelectronics of the future.
Suggested Items
Electronics Industry Sentiment Rose in April, Hitting New High
05/02/2024 | IPCApril 2024 marked the third consecutive month of sentiment growth among electronics manufacturers. When asked if they expected labor costs for hourly workers to rise over the next month, manufacturers in the United States, Mexico, and Europe predicted a five percent increase, while manufacturers in Asia predicted a slightly lower four percent increase.
LQDX Divests Aluminum Soldering Business - Mina™ - to Taiyo America Inc.
05/02/2024 | PRNewswireLQDX, formerly known as Averatek Corp., developer of high-performance materials for advanced semiconductor manufacturing, today announced that it has divested its aluminum soldering business – known as MinaTM – to Taiyo America Inc., a global market leader in advanced electronic materials.
iNEMI Names Grace O'Malley CTO
05/02/2024 | iNEMIThe Board of Directors of the International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (iNEMI) has named Grace O'Malley Chief Technical Officer (CTO).
ZESTRON Academy Launches 2024 Advanced Packaging & Power Electronics Webinar Series
05/01/2024 | ZESTRONZESTRON, the leading global provider of high-precision cleaning products, services, and training solutions in the electronics manufacturing and semiconductor industries, proudly announces the launch of its highly anticipated webinar series on Advanced Packaging & Power Electronics, a webinar series on the latest innovations, cleaning, and corrosion challenges.
Worldwide Silicon Wafer Shipments Dip 5% in Q1 2024
05/01/2024 | SEMIWorldwide silicon wafer shipments decreased 5.4% quarter-over-quarter to 2,834 million square inches in the first quarter of 2024, a 13.2% drop from the 3,265 million square inches recorded during the same quarter last year, the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG) reported in its quarterly analysis of the silicon wafer industry.